The family of a 2-year-old with limited mobility needed a wheelchair but could not afford the cost of a wheelchair, $20,000. The Farmington, Minnesota, public high school “Rogue Robotics Team” did it.
Great and talented kids. No one mentioned theirvtest scores.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Best curriculum fo kids increases their responsibility. cooperative interaction, and talents for language and doing–lots of play, art, music, dance, building things, science projects in and out of the classroom, writing about their families and neighborhoods, reading their histories, each school building a living museum of an era, and exactly what those marvelous high school kids did–solve a local problem, fix something nearby, improve lives, study the science of the improvement and the history of the need, close at hand conditions for learning about distant things and ideas.
Preach it Brother Shor!
As Ira says, this is how to build community and the intrinsic motivation that produced life-long learners and problem solvers.
Years ago, just our of college, I took a job teaching English and was given five remedial preps. One of my classes consisted entirely of 11th-grade remedial boys, mostly latchkey kids whose parents worked in the local tire factory. These boys HATED everything about school and were just biding time until they could drop out. One day the Principal called me on the carpet because he had seen me with that class, for several days running, out in the parking lot with our heads under the hoods of cars.
Here’s what we were doing. I had those boys preparing a manual for doing simple car repairs–how to change spark plugs and tires and oil, how to do a tune-up. Now, cars were one of the few things, in addition to girls, that these boys really cared about. And they threw themselves like crazy into that unit. They planned and wrote and edited and held these intense debates over the precise wording and organization of each piece. It was a freaking beautiful thing to behold. And you should have seen the pride on these boys’ faces when we printed copies of this and sold them around the school and community for a quarter apiece.
To this day, that was the most successful unit that I ever taught.
Great example of teaching and learning.
Thank you, Ira, for your most thoughtful response.
Ira Shor for SEC OF ED….
What an excellent idea!
If any child needs a wheelchair, artificial limbs, orthopaedic surgery, etc. the Shriner’s hospitals provide all of this FREE. See
https://www.shrinershospitalsforchildren.org/shc
The hospital program provides architectural modifications to the child’s home, like ramps and bathubs, etc.
All of the medical care, and associated expenses for the children is provided free. NO child should ever need a wheelchair, and the family cannot afford it.
You mean the same Shriner’s hospitals that skim a whole lotta money off the top to pay for huge overhead and executive salaries?
https://www.charitywatch.org/top-charity-salaries
If yes, then count me in as a bigger fan of these smart, talented, caring high school kids who don’t.
I am not demeaning the work that those students performed. I think it is great.
The Shriner’s hospitals are fabulous, no family/child is ever charged one cent for the treatment.
Charles,
I believe you are misinformed. There are 22 Shriner’s hospitals for children in the nation and not all of them are set up to deal with orthopedics and mobility issues like wheel chairs. Some are dedicated only to acute care for burns.
Moreover there are means-testing hurdles for families who are seeking services. For example, some services are tied to Medicare or Medicaid eligibility…and these programs are increasingly under threat from legislators who wish to impose work requirements on potential beneficiaries.
The link in this post shows that the students were working on mobility for very young children and with an organization called GoBabyGo. GoBabyGo has more sites nationally than Shriners hospitals.
These students should be praised. They are working in the great tradition of Dean Kamen whose iBot wheelchair met the performance challenge of climbing the Eiffel tower.
Click to access Financial_Assistance_Policy_System_04_8_2018_Rev.pdf
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dean-Kamen
@Laura: I have been a Shriner since 1989. I have transported children and parents to/from the hospitals, and I have seen up close the miracles that they do for FREE. I know how the program operates.
We had a boy back in Kentucky. He was born with spina bifida. He needed 20 operations before he was two years old. The cost was estimated at over one million dollars. The Shriner’s hospital in Lexington KY, did all of the medical care, and the family was never charged one cent.
The Shriner’s hospitals specialize, some are for orthopaedics, some are for burns. The Philadelphia hospital has a world-class spinal cord center.
If a child can benefit from the free medical care from a Shriner’s hospital, the child will receive the care. NO provision is made for medicare eligibility. Treatment is based solely on whether the child can benefit from the treatment. The financial resources of the family, are not considered.
Home modifications are not always made by the Shriners. If a child’s home needs a ramp, or other modifications, provisions will be made with an alternate masonic charity.
If you need further clarification, check out the Shriner’s hospitals website, or better yet, ask for a tour of your local Shriner’s hospital.
The Shriner’s hospital program has been going strong since the first hospital opened in 1922, in Shreveport LA.
The hospital program is similar to the St. Jude’s program but not exactly the same.
Once there was a child in the St. Jude’s hospital who needed a delicate bone operation. At a board meeting, the case was discussed with Danny Thomas and the board members. Danny Thomas was informed that the only place where the operation could be performed was at the Shriner’s hospital.
Danny said “I don’t care what it costs, get the child the operation”. The other board members replied “Mr. Thomas, Shriner’s hospitals are free”. When he learned this, Danny joined the Shriners.